Robotics Teams Across Connecticut Gather For Competition

The ÜberBots' drivers and team captain (from left: Alex Niezrecki, Justin Niezrecki, and Michael Fischler) watch the ongoing match while waiting for their turn on the field.

The ÜberBots' drivers and team captain (from left: Alex Niezrecki, Justin Niezrecki, and Michael Fischler) watch the ongoing match while waiting for their turn on the field. (Posted by Beth Cavanaugh, Community Contributor)

Community Contributor Beth Cavanaugh

This past weekend, the Avon ÜberBots as well as thirty-three other teams from across the New England region and beyond gathered in Waterbury for one of the initial competitions of the 2015 FIRST robotics season! The event was the first of several to be held across the region this season, and has been estimated by many commentators to be one of the most competitive district events this year. The event ran through the entire weekend, with the pits opening on Friday, qualification matches taking place all day on Saturday, and the teams gathering again for alliance selection and playoff matches on Sunday.

These robots played the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition game, Recycle Rush. Robots on an alliance of three use a combination of autonomous code and human drivers to manipulate sets of totes, recycling bins, and pool noodles in order to score points. At the end of the match, volunteer referees count up the points scored by each alliance, which factor into a ranking for each team. There are no wins and losses in the qualification rounds as well as no direct defensive play, as this approach puts an emphasis on teamwork and "coopertition" between the separate alliances.

The ÜberBots put together an impressive showing, ranking fifteenth out of thirty-four overall at the end of qualifiers. For the most part, the team played by using the robot's hooks to pick up totes from the landfill zone at the center of the field and stack them in piles of three or four totes. However, toward the end of the qualifiers and into the playoff rounds, the team decided to begin using their mechanisms to experiment with lifting the valuable recycling bins. Before long, the ÜberBots were capping their stacks and those of their alliance partners with ease. Their path across the cluttered field was made easier by the use of an H-drive, which allows their robot to maneuver more carefully between the precious stacks of totes.

On Sunday, the ÜberBots were drafted by alliance captains 4055 NRG from Winsted to join them in the playoff matches on Sunday, along with rookie team 5746 Human Error from Deep River. This alliance made it together through the quarterfinals, and had a lot of fun experimenting with different game strategies in the matches that they played. The winners of the entire event were Team 236, the Techno-Ticks from Lyme-Old Lyme High School and their alliance partners, 230 Gaelhawks from Shelton and 3464 Sim-City from Simsbury. The event also welcomed guests from out of state, including 3780 Robot Unicorns from Providence, Rhode Island and 3314 Mechanical Mustangs from Clifton, New Jersey.

The ÜberBots will compete next at the UMass Dartmouth District Event next weekend in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The event will take place at the Tripp Athletic Center on the UMass campus. The event will be host to twenty-eight teams from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. All FIRST events are open to spectators and are free to the general public, so feel free to come by and support the team! For those who do not want to drive all the way to Massachusetts, the team will be competing at a third event in Hartford towards the end of the competitive season, and the UMass Dartmouth event will be streamed live. See the ÜberBots' Facebook page for up-to-date information.